The camp format: There are four courts side by side with bleachers on both ends. The coaches all sit on one end and the players are on the opposite side. The coaches can’t talk to the players, but the coaches move around to watch the game in which the player they are recruiting is playing. The coaches are almost all wearing some sort of gear from their school. There are assistants and head coaches in attendance along with a smattering of press and fans ($5 per session for the general public). Big time coaches were in attendance like Calapari, Calhoun (UConn), Montgomery (Stanford) and Roy Williams to name a few. There seemed to be a few less than the last 2 years. No Izzo, Patino or Billy Donovan this year. My sense was that many of them were at Nike this year and did not make it in for the last day or two of Adidas.

I watched a few games and then grabbed Coach Cuonzo Martin and we spent the last game of Thursday night talking about Purdue basketball and various other topics. Last year Coach Price was very clear what was on the record and off the record. Coach Martin was not so clear this year, so I will relate things that I feel are appropriate and try to filter things that he did not intend for general consumption. I am paraphrasing the conversation so I may get things slightly wrong here and there, as I was not taking notes. All misinterpretations can be blamed on me.

I will post a few separate posts: one for next year’s team, one for general state of the program and random thoughts and one for recruiting.

Let me finish by saying that after talking to Coach Martin, I am really excited about next year’s team and the players we have in the program. After wallowing in the negativity that you see on the boards about the direction of the program and issues with recruiting, retirement, succession, etc., it was great to be excited about Purdue basketball again. All of the issues for the future are still there, but the near term future on the court is very bright.